Friday, January 25, 2013

Got another acceptance letter today. Look closely at the upper left hand corner (click on photo) and you will see it reads "WSU!" This one is more enticing than the first one, as not only was he accepted, but with his GPA and SAT scores, he received the University Acceptance Award. Two thousand towards tuition sounds good to me! Still three more schools to hear from, so stay tuned.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Saturday was an extreme sports day for the Crebbin household! Mike and Josh were first out the door, heading out at 5:15 am for a day of wrestling in Lynden. Next, Kaia and I headed for her first ever Trampoline and Tumbling meet (T & T gymnastics) in Bellevue. Kellen came over before we left so that he could hang out with Jaelyn for the day and get her to her first basketball game of the season.

Both Jaelyn and Kaia played basketball last year on a co-ed team, but with her sister not joining her this year, Jaelyn really wanted to be on an all girls team this season. She was excited to learn that 3rd and 4th grade teams are separate, so she would get her wish for an all girls team. However, only 13 girls signed up, so this complicated things. I was hoping they would make two girls team to play against the boys, but instead they have all 13 girls practice together, then each week they will create two teams out of the group, so that each week you will play with and against a different group. Not sure how much they will improve over the course of the season, but as long as they are having a good time, that's what is most important. I'm also sure no parents will be complaining about playing time! Jaelyn's "team" yesterday won, and she scored a basket:)

Kaia was very excited about her first competition. In T&T tumbling, there are three events: Tumbling, Trampoline, and Double-Mini Trampoline. Kaia's first event of the day was the trampoline. The last couple of weeks she became anxious about getting injured on one of her moves at the end of her routine. I have been talking and praying with her about it, and she came home from practice Friday night, excited that she did it. She successfully completed it Saturday too, and ended up taking the gold on the event. Okay, so maybe she was the only one in her age and ability group, but I was proud of her nonetheless!

Next event was her Double-Mini Trampoline event, which she states is her least favorite. Not sure why that is, other than the fact that she didn't complete her first try successfully. However, her second run was clean, and she ended up with the silver.

Kaia's final event seems to be her strongest. Doesn't surprise me, as she spends more of her time lately getting around by tumbling than she does walking! Doesn't matter if she's walking down the hallway in our house, outside in the driveway, even at church, she is traveling through cartwheels, roundoffs, and back handsprings. Here she is in her first run.

Here is her second tumbling run. On this one she is allowed a running start.

Once again she earned the gold medal (and once again, no other competition for her age/ability), but even better, her scores were high enough to qualify her for the state tournament! I still don't have a handle on how they score the events, but I am sure I will become more proficient with it as the season goes by. For now, she had a really fun day and is looking forward to the next competition in February.

Josh had another long day of wrestling. Following Thursday's exciting evening, Josh had a bye and two pins to find himself in the finals against the #1 ranked kid in the state. He ended up taking second, but not without giving up a fight, only losing 1-3, so he feels pretty good about it. The OHHS kids ended up finishing first in the tournament, so was a great day overall.

Whew, thankfully today is a day of rest. A lot of sports coming up in the next month, so we're going to need the energy!

Friday, January 18, 2013

Last night was a huge night for the Crebbin Boys Men. First event for the evening was Senior Night for wrestling. Josh was one of 15 seniors. Coach Dad was busy handing out flowers, so the girls and I escorted Joshua out. Big hugs from Dad, who then joined us for some photos, then he was back to business. We will get some more photos at a later point from the photographer, but here is the only one I have for now. It's minus Mike, and the girls were being a bit silly, but I love it of Josh and I.

Right before the announcing of the two teams, the athletes and crowd were surprised to learn that the wrestling team was awarded the Gary Knutzen award for sportsmanship by the Skagit Island Officials. I was proud to see that the years Mike has instilled sportsmanship, integrity, etc., in his athletes and fellow coaches, was honored.

Next proud moment; Josh was wrestling the number two kid in the state at the 3A level (Josh is currently #6). His opponent came out very aggressive, and very quickly, had Josh fighting for his life on his back. And fight Josh did, until the bloody nose put a stop to it! The night of wrestling was to be on the Internet for friends and family to watch, but wouldn't you know it, it stopped streaming when Josh was on. Not sure if it came back for any of the other matches. So I am posting it in three parts here. Please forgive me for the shaky screen and any moments he disappears from view. I was filming on my ipad while watching directly, so when it got exciting I wasn't exactly paying attention to the screen. You may also want to turn the volume down:)

First period action resumes...

The grand finale....

Yep, Dad was super proud, as we all were. But wait, it got better! The two teams were vying for first place in league, and wouldn't you know it, everything came down to the final match. The 220 weight class was last to wrestle, and OHHS was up by one point. The wrestlers took turns being on their back, but the Wildcat wrestler finally prevailed, and the large crowd let out a huge roar! Was probably my most memorable evening as an OHHS wrestling fan; a perfect ending to Josh's home career. Two more weeks until playoffs begin. One more tourney tomorrow, two away matches next week.

Just as Josh's season is beginning to wind up, the girls' sports are just beginning. Kaia and I travel to Bellevue for her first meet tomorrow, and Kellen is taking Jaelyn to her first basketball game of the season, since Josh and Michael will be off wrestling. Thankfully it's a three day weekend so we will have time to relax and enjoy some time at home.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Finally, the day Kaia has been waiting for....new glasses! She looks so grown up in these new ones (no more puppy prints). She told the lady helping fit them that she could see so clearly now. It must be wonderful to not look out lenses that are all scratched up. Let's hope being almost nine, she is not quite so rough with them.

Doesn't she look goofy happy? You can't really tell but they are blue with an irridescent sheen to it. Here's a look from the side where you can see the lacy type holes in the frames:

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

No, I'm not talking about my black sweater, but I've always heard that black makes you look thinner. Note the new insulin pump I'm sporting on my hip:) Don't you think it slims me down??? Seriously, the warranty on my old pump was up, so I was due for an upgrade. After weeks of investigating what's new on the market, I decided to stay with the same ole' thing, only switching from pink to black. I found the pink scratched off way too easily, and I don't think the black will show if it does.

As for why I didn't go with the latest and greatest pumps, there are a couple reasons. First, I love the remote that is directly connected to my glucose monitor, as I use it all the time. Second, there is a new pump out there called Tandem that I seriously considered, but it's more like an iphone, which means I would have to charge it regularly as opposed to using batteries. It seems I always forget to pack a cord or two when I travel, so that would not be a good match for me. Maybe when the next warranty is up in four years, I'll be ready to venture more out of my comfort zone. Hope this doesn't mean I'm getting old!

Sunday, January 13, 2013

I have been meaning to follow up on Jaelyn's birthday post, but we have barely been home as of late. Josh had wrestling Thursday night, Friday night, and all day Saturday, then of course, this morning it was early service, followed sadly by the Seahawk playoff game. I have mustered just enough energy to get some photos up before I go to bed and crash.

Kids had fun creating their own pizzas. Good job making the crust Dad!

And fun playing Wipeout on the X-Box...

And fun eating cake....

This summer I bought a couple more of the lotus candles from China that the girls love so much. Funny story; a few of us walked into a bakery looking to buy the candles, but we couldn't find any on display, and no one in the store understood English, nor were they correctly interpreting my mime! Josh got the bright idea to draw a picture of a lotus flower with flames (note he did not get his artistic skills from me) and the female workers giggled, ran to the supply room in back, and brought out a box full of the candles. I think between all of us there, we bought them out. I think they thought we were crazy, but they are such a hit here and so cheap. I think we maybe paid $1.50 or so for one.

Big kids had fun too:)

Josh took third place at yesterday's tournament. There were some tough wrestlers there, and Josh did a great job. I did get him to smile in another photo, but it was blurry, so back to the tough look this post. This coming Thursday night will be another really tough match for him, as well as senior night. Hoping to be able to post a win, and maybe a few tearful photos.

Jaelyn starts up with basketball this week, so that means we will be balancing three sports for the next month or so when wrestling wraps up. This Saturday Kaia has her first gymnastics competition, so I am hoping to have video to post.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Several family members were poised to watch last night's championship round, which Josh was participating in, at the Everett Classic wrestling tournament. However, due to technical difficulties the matches weren't streamed on the internet. Have no fear, I had my handy-dandy ipad, so you can have a front row seat for the final round. Spoiler alert...don't scroll further down the page until after viewing the video, or you will already know the outcome.

Wrestlers are not known to smile on the podium, but I asked Josh to do it for me. Thanks Josh!

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Remember when I mentioned the Chinese Happy Birthday song on Jaelyn's birthday? Well I forgot that I had some of it on video, and it's too funny to not post. Didn't get the Mandarin part on video, but note how loud the music was. Being the fruit lover that she is, Jaelyn went straight for the grapes. See for yourself what happened after that.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

2013 is in with a bang, not because it's a New Year, but because it is Jaelyn's birthday! Hard to believe our sweet girl is now nine. We spent a relaxing day at home, and since the weather was beautiful, she got to ride her new bike. From the smile on her face, I think she likes it!

As usual, Jaelyn chose to go out to our local Chinese buffet for her dinner. We have celebrated there many times before, but this was the first time where they played the Happy Birthday song over their speaker system, in both Chinese and English, and brought out dessert with a candle. Following dinner we played a family game of Life, then ate the Cake Pops we made earlier in the day with the Cake Pop Maker the girls got for Christmas. Wish me luck, as her friend slumber party is later today:)